Lori's Latest

Wow! I can't believe how long it's been since I last blogged! It has been a very busy year. Here's what's been happening since my last blog:
1. I went back to work in January (Lola was only 4 months old). It was really hard leaving my baby everyday (and still being up with her at night), but it was the best choice for our family. Robert took parental leave and stayed home with Lola. I went back to teaching on a .5 E contract (mornings only, but I also supplied in other schools and classes most afternoons) on a classroom composition grant in a kindergarten classroom. A classroom composition contract can mean different things, but in my case, it meant there were two teachers in this K class every morning for Language Arts and Math. It was a class of 17 very needy and low children, a lot of whom needed one-on-one support - some academically, some socially. They were all great kids, it was just the combination of all them together made it very difficult. I loved every minute of my job. There wasn't one morning when I woke up and said, "I don't want to go to work today." I know teaching is where I am supposed to be.
2. While on parental leave, Robert decided that he would go back to school this fall to become an electrician. He has hated his job for years and it wasn't a job that was very conducive to having a family, or at least a happy one. So, he's been going through the process of getting government funding through EI to go back to school. It's exciting and yet scary at the same time. I still don't know if I have a position for the fall or not, but I just have to sit back and remember that even though I don't have a sweet clue what's going on, God does!
3. Finally, my baby girl turned 1 this week! I can't believe how fast the time goes! I look at her now and look at her baby pictures and *sniff* she's not a baby anymore. She's not walking on her own yet, but boy can she get around. Her latest is walking on her knees. It is one of the funniest things I have ever seen! She really is a smart kid. She says her own version of "cheese" and hams it up whenever she sees a camera (unless we are paying for her pictures and then, of course, she doesn't cooperate). She dances whenever she hears music and has her own little collection of instruments. She pants when she sees a dog. She goes "Aaah" whenever anyone takes a drink, pours a drink or is even just holding a drink. And if you don't say "Aaaah" after you drink, she does it over and over until you do. We've also been doing baby sign language with her which she picked up really quick. Quicker than her mom, even. One night we were at a friend's house (who also did baby sign with her daughter) and Lola kept fussing and I kept offering her things but she didn't want them. Finally, I was like, "Do you want a drink?" And my friend said, "Lori, she's been doing the sign for 'drink' the whole time!" Oops! The student surpassed the teacher!
So, that's my life in a nutshell since my last blog! I'll try not to be so long in between next time.